Williams-Sonoma (WSM) – Analysts’ Recent Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM):

11/19/2018 – Williams-Sonoma had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus. They now have a $60.00 price target on the stock.

11/19/2018 – Williams-Sonoma had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. They now have a $57.00 price target on the stock.

11/17/2018 – Williams-Sonoma was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating. According to Zacks, “Shares of Williams-Sonoma have outperformed its industry in the past six months. Continued enhancement of e-commerce channel, optimization of supply chain and the transformation of retail fleet by investing in new and remodeled stores are expected to drive growth for William Sonoma. Moreover, the company’s focus on product innovation plays a huge role in the company’s success. However, high costs associated with continued investments in e-commerce and a competitive retail environment mar growth prospects. Further, supply-chain investments are creating pressure on the company’s operating margins. Intense competition and the company’s dependency on consumer discretionary spending further add to the woes. Also, earnings estimates for 2018 have decreased over the past 60 days, reflecting analysts' concern over the stock's earnings potential.”

11/16/2018 – Williams-Sonoma was given a new $50.00 price target on by analysts at Credit Suisse Group AG. They now have a “sell” rating on the stock.

11/16/2018 – Williams-Sonoma had its price target lowered by analysts at Buckingham Research from $64.00 to $55.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.

11/16/2018 – Williams-Sonoma had its price target lowered by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada to $62.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.

11/16/2018 – Williams-Sonoma had its price target lowered by analysts at Deutsche Bank AG from $65.00 to $60.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.

11/16/2018 – Williams-Sonoma was given a new $63.00 price target on by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.

11/16/2018 – Williams-Sonoma had its price target lowered by analysts at Loop Capital to $58.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock. They noted that the move was a valuation call. They noted that the move was a valuation call.

11/5/2018 – Williams-Sonoma was given a new $55.00 price target on by analysts at Credit Suisse Group AG. They now have a “sell” rating on the stock.

10/29/2018 – Williams-Sonoma was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating. According to Zacks, “Shares of Williams-Sonoma have outperformed its industry in the past six months. Continued enhancement of e-commerce channel, optimization of supply chain and the transformation of retail fleet by investing in new and remodeled stores are expected to drive growth for William Sonoma. Moreover, the company’s focus on product innovation plays a huge role in the company’s success. However, high costs associated with continued investments in e-commerce and a competitive retail environment mar growth prospects. Further, supply-chain investments are creating pressure on the company’s operating margins. Intense competition and the company’s dependency on consumer discretionary spending further add to the woes. Also, earnings estimates for 2018 have decreased over the past 30 days, reflecting analysts' concern over the stock's earnings potential.”

10/23/2018 – Williams-Sonoma was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. According to Zacks, “Shares of Williams-Sonoma have outperformed its industry in the past six months. Continued enhancement of e-commerce channel, optimization of supply chain and the transformation of retail fleet by investing in new and remodeled stores are expected to drive growth for William Sonoma. Moreover, the company’s focus on product innovation plays a huge role in the company’s success. Also, earnings estimates for 2018 and 2019 have increased over the past 60 days, reflecting upside potential for the stock’s earnings prospect. However, high costs associated with continued investments in e-commerce and a competitive retail environment mar growth prospects. Further, supply-chain investments are creating pressure on the company’s operating margins. Intense competition and the company’s dependency on consumer discretionary spending further add to the woes.”

10/13/2018 – Williams-Sonoma had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Zacks Investment Research. They now have a $70.00 price target on the stock. According to Zacks, “Shares of Williams-Sonoma have outperformed its industry in the past six months. Continued enhancement of e-commerce channel, optimization of supply chain and the transformation of retail fleet by investing in new and remodeled stores are expected to drive growth for William Sonoma. Moreover, the company’s focus on product innovation plays a huge role in the company’s success. Also, earnings estimates for 2018 and 2019 have increased over the past 60 days, reflecting upside potential for the stock’s earnings prospect. However, high costs associated with continued investments in e-commerce and a competitive retail environment mar growth prospects. Further, supply-chain investments are creating pressure on the company’s operating margins. Intense competition and the company’s dependency on consumer discretionary spending further add to the woes.”

10/11/2018 – Williams-Sonoma had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $57.00 to $60.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.

10/5/2018 – Williams-Sonoma was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. According to Zacks, “Shares of Williams-Sonoma have outperformed its industry in the past six months. Continued enhancement of e-commerce channel, optimization of supply chain and the transformation of retail fleet by investing in new and remodeled stores are expected to drive growth for William Sonoma. Moreover, the company’s focus on product innovation plays a huge role in the company’s success. Also, earnings estimates for 2018 and 2019 have increased by 2.4% and 2.5%, respectively over the past 60 days, reflecting upside potential for the stock’s earnings prospect. However, high costs associated with continued investments in e-commerce and a competitive retail environment mar growth prospects. Further, supply-chain investments are creating pressure on the company’s operating margins. Intense competition and the company’s dependency on consumer discretionary spending further add to the woes.”

10/4/2018 – Williams-Sonoma was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $71.00 price target on the stock. According to Zacks, “Shares of Williams-Sonoma have outperformed its industry in the past six months. Continued enhancement of e-commerce channel, optimization of supply chain and the transformation of retail fleet by investing in new and remodeled stores are expected to drive growth for William Sonoma. Moreover, the company’s focus on product innovation plays a huge role in the company’s success. Adding to that, the company’s focus on enhancing customer experience through improved and innovative marketing techniques are expected to drive customer growth. Also, earnings estimates for 2018 and 2019 have increased by 2.4% and 2.5%, respectively over the past 60 days, reflecting upside potential for the stock’s earnings prospect. However, high costs associated with continued investments in e-commerce and a competitive retail environment mar growth prospects.”

NYSE:WSM traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $52.86. The company had a trading volume of 227,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,460,962. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.01 and a fifty-two week high of $73.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.95.

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Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 29.75% and a net margin of 4.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 26th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 25th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 47.65%.

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP David Randolph King sold 24,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $1,675,368.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,589 shares in the company, valued at $1,211,530.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Janet Hayes sold 14,376 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.10, for a total value of $979,005.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,056,940.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Csenge Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $124,000. TIAA CREF Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. TIAA CREF Investment Management LLC now owns 713,836 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $46,913,000 after purchasing an additional 92,762 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.0% during the 3rd quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 93,988 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,177,000 after purchasing an additional 48,803 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 19,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Advisors LLC now owns 49,322 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as a multi-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It operates through two segments, E-commerce and Retail. The company offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, including cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma Home brand; and furniture, bedding, bathroom accessories, rugs, curtains, lighting, tabletop, outdoor, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.